A preparatory training program and three discussion
series for veterans, using the Odyssey
as a framework to engage themes of war and homecoming.

The Touchstones Discussion Project veterans program, Completing the Odyssey: A Journey Home, will lead veterans of all backgrounds in dialogues regarding their experience of war and homecoming. The program will include three discussion groups with fifteen participants in each and will be led by NEH Discussion Leaders trained in the Touchstones method. The NEH Discussion Leaders will apply their training to engage all participants as active members whose individual perspectives deepen and broaden their collaborative discussions. The seminar groups will meet twice monthly at a public community center for four months. In each session participants will read selections from The Odyssey and consider other works about ancient war—the Trojan War in particular. Ancient works will be paired with modern selections from between World War II and current conflicts in the War on Terror. They include personal memoirs, correspondence, oral histories, poetry, ancient pottery art, photographs, and film.